Family Matter
by camdearing
Summary: After the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Claire, Owen and Maisie find themselves stuck together for survival as a family. But Maisie Lookwood inherited her grandfather's fortune, and relatives wont make it easy for Claire and Owen to keep the girl, knowing that she means money. Meanwhile, the government is hunting dinosaurs, but they're not the only ones who want Blue.
1. You know what we do now

The total darkness hovered under the silent night. The only light they could see was the car lights on the road ahead, and the shy stars in the dark blue sky.

Claire Dearing looked over her shoulders to find a peaceful Maisie sleeping like an angel. They've had a couple of exhausting days after the incident with the dinosaurs and the Indoraptor at the Lookwood mansion. They had to explain everything to the police, hiding the fact that the little girl was responsible for the opening of the gates and the dinosaur's scape, of course, and just now were free to finally go home. But then, where would they go?

"What do we do now?" Her tired whisper escaped from her lips before she could stop it.

Owen turned his head, taking his eyes away from the road for the first time in almost an hour. It was impossible not to think about that sentence and what it meant to them. Claire was the kind of women that didn't need assurance all the time, but on that particular subject she always tended to look for something solid, and maybe the reason was the emptiness after an event like that, when they were brought together - too close for comfort - and then, after, everything needed to go back to what it was.

The familiar feeling brought a sense of warmth to Owen's body, and he could swear he felt like he was just where he was supposed to be. Right there, looking at her, having to whisper because of sleeping kids. He knew that this was everything he wanted.

"You know what we do now." He didn't really have to say much. His lips turned into a smirk.

"I'm looking for something deeper this time, Owen." Claire sighed. "I don't want to try again if we're not gonna make it work." She went straight to the point with an annoyed voice tone.

The problem was that last time she spent a long time thinking about what it meant to "stick together for survival". How long does it take for one to feel safe enough so he doesn't need the other anymore? How long until one of them leaves?

She used to ask herself all those questions and many others after the incident on Isla Nublar, when Jurassic World was shut down after the consequences of the Indominus Rex escape, and now it wasn't very different. It didn't take long last time. So what about this time? How long would it take for him to realize how incompatible they were and just leave?

A lot of things changed inside of Claire after almost dying, and although life found a way to move on despite the tragedy, she was stuck again. For survival.

"It's not just me and you anymore, you know?" She looked over her shoulder again but little Maisie was still asleep, totally unaware of what was happening. "You tend to run from things, Owen. You can't run from everything."

"Why do you keep saying this? I wasn't running from anything." Owen raised his voice a little in the beginning of the phrase, but had to bring it down again, because of the look on Claire's eyes.

"Shhh! You'll wake her!" She whispered furiously.

A distressing silence took place in the car for a second. They both looked away as a light rain started to fall.

"I wasn't running from anything." Owen's voice was just a whisper again and he sounded hurt, so Claire turned to him. "You told me you didn't want to stay. What was I supposed to do?"

"I thought you were telling me to leave." She hit back. "I thought you were sure that you left me and not the other way around."

"This is not important anymore." Owen sounded tired and hurt again, and Claire felt that maybe it wasn't the right time to talk about it.

"You were gonna let them die." She was Claire Dearing, so she said it anyway. Plus, she was hurt too.

"What was I supposed to do? Look what happened. Look what we got ourselves into." Although they were still having a discussion, the voices were very low, respecting the child in the back seat. "They're gonna die anyway, Claire."

She couldn't argue about that. Owen was right, they wouldn't let dinosaurs live among us, they would kill them. They will kill them.

The conversation stopped for a while, and silence helped to increase the feelings of sadness and impotence inside of both. The rain pouring against the truck was all they could hear for a couple of minutes.

"Do you want me to drive a little?" Claire broke the silence.

"No, I'm fine." Owen shook his head.

Typical him, she thought. He was tired too and she could see it, but that's just how he was and nothing would ever change him.

More silence. This time it was very welcomed as Claire was closing her eyes and about to try resting a little.

* * *

"She's sleeping again." Claire came downstairs after spending a long half hour in the bedroom with Maisie.

They were in her house for a couple of days now and the girl was having a difficult time adjusting to everything, plus her nightmares were getting worst everyday. Claire had the impression that Maisie wasn't sleeping more than two hours a night, and when she would finally fall asleep, she tended to wake up screaming all over again. She was tired, the girl was exhausted and Owen was so tired that he couldn't keep his eyes open.

They were taking turns waking up to check on her, almost like they had a baby in the house. Maisie was as fragile as a newborn after all she had been through in the past days. Not only was she hunted by the Indoraptor, but she was told the truth about who she was and what that meant in a terrible way and by a terrible person. Maisie was broken, and it didn't matter what would take for her to get better, Claire and Owen would be there for her.

"She's a tough kid." Owen sighed. "I don't know what I would do if it was me."

He was sitting on the couch. Owen was sleeping there every night - when he could sleep, of course - simply because they haven't figured anything out just yet.

"I know." She sighed. "I still have nightmares too."

"Yeah... Me too."

"But we're going to take care of her." Claire said. It wasn't a question, but she waited for a confirmation from him anyway. It never came.

Owen was staring at a white wall on the other side of the living room. He didn't move, he wasn't blinking, he didn't flinch. She asked herself if he wasn't sleeping with his eyes open. That would be totally understandable.

Claire sat by his side on the couch. He blinked, finally, but didn't look at her. "Are you ok?" She asked.

"Yeah." He run his hands through his hair and sighed again. "I'm just worried, you know? I mean... How do we move on now? How does one survive this?"

"Hey!" She got closer to him. Her hand touched his fingers and the familiar warmth coming from him caused a strong feeling of affection on her. "I know how we survive. We stick together, that's what we do."

That sentence. The way she just said it out loud without feeling guilty or shy. Maybe she was all in this time, he thought. But Owen was also overwhelmed by Claire's touch, her smell and her body so close to his. He had to close his eyes for a second to control his breathing as his heart started to accelerate. He couldn't explain what he was feeling for her, it was different from anything he was used to. Stronger, he would say. But it was also the wrong time. It looks like bad timing was their thing.

"Claire?" He turned his head to her and felt her breath against his face. That's how close he realized they were on that couch.

"Hm?" She didn't really answered. Their eyes had just met and none of them were strong enough to look away.

Owen's hand stroked her arm, going up until he could reach her neck. His thumb caressed her cheek, skin to skin, feeling a nostalgic, but really good sensation. Owen felt home. It wasn't the couch or the moderate house. It was Claire, she was home.

He kept caressing her skin and her hair, but his eyes never left hers, at least not until he saw her closing them. Then Owen stared at her lips until he was close enough that he could touch it with his own.

Claire felt the butterflies on her stomach waking up like it was Christmas morning. The familiar feeling of being in Owen's arms and having his lips pressed against hers was the best thing she had felt in a long time, and although she would never admit that, she wished they could stay like that forever. If they could, then they would survive anything. That, right there, was the real meaning of sticking together for survival.

But Owen broke their kiss. "Wait, Claire." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "I can't do that."

"Do what?" She was confused and a little annoyed that he decided to talk right when he should just be kissing her.

"I can't…" Owen whispered to her and Claire pushed him away.

"Can't what?" She was starting to freak out. Why was he being so weird about a kiss?

"I can't do this with you." He said. "Our timing is wrong again, and I can't be completely present. I don't want to promise you things that I can't do right now."

"What are you talking about?" She frowned.

"I'm not here one hundred percent because I'm worried about Blue." He finally confessed, and it wasn't as bad as she thought.

Claire took a deep breath. "I'm worried about Blue too."

"I have to look for her, Claire. If they find her, they will kill her."

It was very weird that no official statement was made about the dinosaurs being loose in the United States, and all Owen could think was that they wanted to capture and kill all of them before people could actually believe that dinosaurs were living among them. The government, the army, the police, every one of them were outside hunting dinosaurs, and they were going to kill every single one of them.

"You're right." Although Owen knew everything about Claire's passion for dinosaurs, he was not expecting her to be so understanding. "You have to look for her. I know Blue is smart, but we don't know how she's going to react to the dangers of our world."

"I'm afraid they'll catch her. She's probably very confused." He sighed.

"She needs you." Claire agreed. "You have to find her."

"But you and Maisie need me too." He caressed her shoulders. It was time to face his dilemma.

"We will be fine until you come back."

But she wasn't really certain that she could do it all by herself. She would try and she would do her best or she wasn't Claire Dearing, but at that point she wasn't sure that her best was good enough for Maisie.

"I'll be back for you." He promised. "And I'll make it right this time. One step at a time."

"One step at a time." Claire agreed as she felt his fingers touching the skin on her neck again, and then her hair and face.

He was full of love and affection for her, and was impressed by how much she had changed since they met. Claire was matured now, very understanding and way more selfless than Owen could ever imagine. And although he knew he had to leave, he could feel that his place was really right there with her. Forever.


	2. In my nightmares I'm not human

"So where are you right now?" Claire had an excited tone on the phone, but Owen could tell that she was doing something else while talking to him.

He had left her house on the night before, after the very mature conversation they had. Claire wasn't mad at him this time around, and he wasn't feeling too guilty. So, there they were, video chatting on the next morning, talking about simple things, and although she was far away, it felt like she was right there, next to him.

Claire was making breakfast. French toast and orange juice for Maisie, and just coffee and fruit for her. She had her phone up against the toaster while her hands were working on an organized and beautiful plate for the girl. She wouldn't be herself if she wasn't taking the time to make things perfect.

"I'm on my bungalow." He answered. His attention was completely on her right now. Watching Claire doing basic housework like that could easily become his new favorite thing.

"Ugh! I hate when you say that." She complained, frowning. "It's a van, please, just say van."

"It's bigger than a van. It's my bungalow." He insisted just to annoy her. His smirk got wider when her face turned into a big frown.

"Stop being so stubborn!" Claire stopped what she was doing to look at him. On that particular second, he was glad she was far away.

"I'm back at the Lookwood mansion." Owen decided to end the teasing and started telling her what he knew she wanted to know. "Well, actually I'm as close as I can get. Police is still all over the place and I don't plan on showing my face to them again any time soon."

"Why are they still there?" She was confused. 4 days have gone by, so what were they still looking for?

"I don't know, but I guess there were too many dead people for them to just walk away."

"Maybe they're still trying to figure it out." Claire finished Maisie's plate after making sure the toasts had an exact distance of 2 inches between one another.

"Maybe they're trying to understand how the dinosaurs escaped from the mansion, and you know what it means." He said, bringing his phone closer to his face, so he could see the expressions on her face a little better. Owen didn't want her to worry too much, but he couldn't just keep things from her.

Claire lowered her voice to a whisper. "They can't do anything to her, can they?" She felt nervous just talking about that possibility, but if Maisie were to hear, then it would be much worse.

"They won't do nothing to her, we won't let it." Owen's response was quick and certain. It made Claire's heart calm down.

She wasn't used to being afraid. She was never afraid of anything before, and she definitely would never doubt her capabilities. But with Maisie it was a whole new experience, completely different from what Claire was used to, and she wasn't feeling confident just yet, in fact, she was quite insecure. The biggest problem was that Claire didn't think she was exactly what the girl needed.

"Hm… Claire?" Owen interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes?" She turned to the screen.

"Where's Maisie?"

"Still sleeping." Claire answered. "I'll go up and wake her. She should be well rested now."

"Ok, take me with you." He said, talking about her phone, of course.

She didn't say anything, just grabbed her phone and made her way into the living room and then the stairs.

"I'm looking for Blue, but still nothing." Owen kept the conversation going. "She could be anywhere at this point."

"Do you think she would go too far from there? She doesn't know this place." Claire was on the second floor now.

"Let's hope not, because if she would, then she could already be in Florida, for what I know." He sighed.

One bedroom and a bathroom down, Claire was finally at Maisie's bedroom door. It wasn't really the girl's bedroom yet, she was sleeping in Claire's spare bedroom. They knew that it was not the perfect situation, but it was what they could offer right away. Of course Claire had plans to give Maisie her own bedroom very soon, but she needed time, now more than ever, and she had to figure things out with Owen first.

She turned the handle and pushed de door after two quick knocks.

"Good morning, Maisie!" Claire had a quiet motherly voice as she was walking into the room and pushing the door out of her way. She didn't want to scare the child in her sleep.

Owen was smiling like the way he used to smile when he and Claire were together after the incident with the Indominus, or like when he was having a proud-dad moment with Blue, when she would show off for him. He was starting to think that there was only one feeling that would make him smile like that: Love.

And out of the sudden, a loud scream was heard coming from the video chat, changing the air from the nice moment Owen was having to a really heavy one. It was coming from Claire's house, more precisely, coming from Claire herself.

"Claire?" He screamed back in despair. He couldn't see anything anymore, the hand she was using to hold the phone was shaking, and the camera was facing the carpet on the floor.

"Owen, she's not here!" Claire was freaking out. She got up every two hours to check on Maisie like they did everyday since she got there. The little girl was in bed through the whole night, even when she wasn't sleeping, but now the spare bed was empty and cold. "Oh my god, it's just the first day and I already lost her." Her sharp scream didn't hide how desperate she was.

"Claire? Claire, please stop screaming. Take a second to…" And although he was trying to talk to her, she wouldn't listen.

"Dear lord, Owen, I lost the child." She kept repeating.

"Shut up!" Owen screamed at her through the phone, but then he calmed his voice. "Deep breaths, Claire." And she obeyed him because she didn't know what else to do. "Relax for a second, ok?"

"Owen, I don't think you understand what's going on here. I'm by myself with a child that is no longer with me. I lost her, she is not here anymore. Maisie is gone and it's my fault, because I should be with her instead of organizing freakin french toasts on a paper plate for breakfast." Oh yes, she was totally freaking out, he thought. But Owen could understand her. The whole situation wasn't easy for Claire or Maisie, and now he wasn't even there to help.

"Claire, please, focus!" He would have to help anyway he could, even far away. "Freaking out won't help, so please, just try to calm down, ok?"

"Right… You're right." Her voice was shaking.

"Ok." Owen tried a calming voice with her again. "Now look around. She couldn't have gone far, so she's probably in the house. What do you see?"

Claire took a deep breath. "I see a messy bed." She started. "The dolls are on the corner, it doesn't look like she touched them." They brought her some toys when she first got there, but the girl never really played with anything. "Curtains are open and…" She gasped. "The window is open."

Owen hold his breath. "Go look outside the window."

She run closer to the trembling curtains, her hands touched the window and she had to open it even more. Claire lowered her body and stretched her neck to look outside. She didn't have to look any further. Maisie was outside of the window, sitting on the roof tiles, her knees brought up to her chest as she was hugging her legs with her chin resting over them. The girl had a terrifying look on her face as she was facing the horizon and Claire noticed the tears streaming down on her face.

"Maisie?" Suddenly the despair vanish from her body, and Claire was all motherly again. "I'll talk to you later, Owen. I found her."

"Wait, Claire, I…" But it was too late, she hung up.

It wouldn't be difficult for her, a full-grown woman, to climb out of the window and kneel on the roof to reach the little girl, but her not yet completely recovered leg injury, made it not so easy. Claire ignored the pain anyway, sat by her side and wrapped her arms around the girl's small body, watching with pain in her heart while Maisie sobbed.

"Hey, Maisie, it's ok. Everything will be ok." Claire felt worthless, she didn't know what to say to her. "I'm right here." She was trying anyway.

"I'm sorry." Maisie cried. "I had a nightmare."

"It's ok, it was just a bad dream." Claire squeezed her a little. "You're here. You're safe. The Indoraptor is gone, it is not going to hurt you ever again." She just said what she used to say every time Maisie would wake up screaming.

The girl sighed as she rested her head on Claire's shoulder. "The Indoraptor is not in my bad dreams anymore." She confessed and looked up to stare at the woman. "It's something worst."

Claire stared at the little girl with confused eyes. She couldn't imagine what could be worst than being chased and hunted by the most dangerous creature that ever walked the earth. If the Indoraptor wasn't in Maisie's nightmares, what could be keeping her awake every night then?

"What's wrong, sweetie?" She asked with a soft voice. "You know you can talk to me, right? If you want to."

Maisie looked away. She was back at staring at nothing, contemplating the mountains in the horizon far away. Claire didn't want to insist on anything. The girl would talk when she felt comfortable enough to do so.

She stroked the little girl's arm, certain that she wouldn't speak just yet, and patient enough to just be by her side and wait.

Maisie watched as a little bird flew around the trees. She couldn't help but notice that another bird was also flying around, protecting the little one. His mother maybe, she thought. Claire's arms were still around her body, providing protection, warmth and safety. She was feeling sad still, but she wasn't alone anymore. Maybe she would never have to feel alone again.

"In my nightmares I'm not human." The girl felt the courage to say. "I'm always this horrible creature that scares everyone and nobody wants to be around me, so I'm always alone." She gasped, anyone could see how scared and sad she was. "Don't you get it, Claire? I'm just like the Indoraptor."

Claire felt her mouth hang open. She tried to say something, but was speechless for several seconds before she could actually clear her throat and speak. "Oh, Maisie, honey." She still didn't have the right words. "You're no such thing, sweetie. And you're not alone. I'm right here, and you also have Owen. We will always be there for you, no matter what."

They looked at each other for a second in total silence. Maisie could tell that Claire was telling the truth. She would always be there.

"Did Owen leave?" The girl asked.

"Yes he did, but he's still a call away. He's still here for you, he just had to go look for Blue." Claire explained.

"Blue the Velociraptor?" Maisie looked confused. "I thought she was free and happy now, like the others."

"Oh, and I bet she is. Thanks to you." Claire smiled at her. "But Blue is a carnivore, she'll never be able to live among humans without people trying to hurt her or she trying to hurt people."

The girl looked upset again. "They'll never leave her alone, will they?"

"No, sweetie, they won't. That's why Owen had to go rescue her before they find her and hurt her." She cuddled the child, squeezing her a little more on that hug.

"So Owen is doing the right thing." Maisie concluded.

"Yes, he is. He always does the right thing." Claire smiled a little. "One day I'll tell you the whole story of how we got here."

The little girl shook her head showing interest and then, surprisingly, smiled at Claire and hugged her even more tight. She felt safe like she hasn't felt in a while, she also felt loved, but more important, for the first time since the last night on the mansion, Maisie felt like she would actually be fine one day, like she was part of something real.

"Claire?" The girl looked up to her. "Before all that, when I was watching tv with grandpa, the guy on the news channel said that cloned dinosaurs had no rights." She bite her lip, afraid of the question she was about to ask and even more afraid of the answer. "What about me? Do I have rights?"

Claire felt her heart breaking into a thousand little pieces, but she was able to recompose herself before opening her mouth. She couldn't act fast and risk saying the wrong thing to the child.

"You have rights, sweetheart. You are just like me and everyone else." She caressed the girl's cheek with the tip of her thumb, taking the opportunity to also wipe her tears away. "We are going to take care of you, ok? And you'll have everything you dreamed of, I promise."

Maisie looked up again, starring into Claire's green eyes. She never dreamed of much, there was only one thing she wanted:

"Can I have a family?" She asked softly.

"Oh, sweetie, you already have one."

They hugged tightly again for a couple more seconds. No explanations were needed. Claire and Owen were the family Maisie always wanted to have. Both were feeling like they found the puzzle piece that was missing. And now, together with Owen, they could really make things work despite everything they've been through. Maisie wasn't so scared anymore because now she knew she wasn't alone. She also knew exactly who she was, and that meant there were no more secrets, and maybe she could live just fine with the truth once she could get used to it. Meanwhile, Claire was discovering a new feeling inside of her as she realized she could actually be good for the girl: She wanted to be a mother.

* * *

After the video chat in the morning, Owen was cursing himself for leaving Claire and Maisie in such a delicate time. He didn't hear from them for the rest of the morning, but even when Claire called back and told him everything was finally ok, he didn't feel less guilty.

He knew that he had to do what he was doing, but he also knew that he should be with them. Claire and Maisie were his family now, they were all he had, and there he was, in the forest far away from them. But Owen was out there looking for Blue. He was doing something that no one else with good intentions would do. He needed to find her and take her to a safe place, so she could be in peace.

It took him hours to find the first clue. It was right before sunset when he found that footprint. It wasn't very fresh, but it was enough so he could tell that she has been there not so long ago. Blue was closer than he thought.

"I'll find you, Blue." He whispered to himself. "I'll save you."

Owen was really excited because he was close to her again. Everything started to make sense. Suddenly he knew exactly why he was there alone and not with Claire and Maisie. Blue was his family too and although times were difficult, at least the other two were safe now, so he could focus on saving Blue and coming back home as soon as he could. He still had a cabin to build after all.

* * *

It was raining again and the raindrops falling against the window glass was all Claire could hear. It was late, Maisie was asleep and she was just reading a book before bed when she heard someone at the door. She had to throw a robe over her pajamas before going down the stairs. Crossed the leaving room and leaned against the door to look outside. The man outside wasn't anyone she knew before. He was wearing a completely wet suit, fancy shoes and glasses. His dark hair was also wet, but it was still perfectly pulled back, and his skin was light, but not too pale.

Claire thought about if she should open the door or not, but decided she needed to know at least who he was and what he thought he was doing coming over that late. It must be important since he was at her door past eleven at night and in the middle of what looked like a tropical storm.

"May I help you?" She opened the door with an attitude but kept the chain on.

"Oh, hi!" The man smiled, having to speak as loud as the rain noise. "I'm looking for Miss Dearing."

"Who is looking for her?" Claire asked.

"Are you Claire Dearing?" He asked back. "Miss Dearing, I'm George Davidson." She watched as he reached his pocket and offered her a business card. The man was a freaking lawyer.

"What do you need from me Mr. Davidson?" She was genuinely confused and annoyed.

"I'm afraid you and Mr. Owen Grady took something from the Lookwood mansion that wasn't yours to take." George said. "I'm Maisie's family and I'm here to take her with me, so if you would..." But he couldn't finish his sentence.

Claire closed the door on his face as fast as she could. She locked everything, but she knew it wasn't enough, so she dragged a coffee table and another piece of furniture to interdict the entryway. As she was turning fast, she felt a sharp pain on her injured leg, probably the result of her adventure with Maisie on the roof in the morning.

The bang on the door started a second after she walked away. Claire found Maisie hiding on the top of the stairs and it only took a second for both of them to realize the whole situation.

"Run!" She shouted to the girl as she started to go up the stairs, forcing her leg way more than she should. The door was smashed quickly and the rain was falling furiously outside. They could scream as loud as they wanted to but no one would hear. "Run, Maisie, run!"


End file.
